Out in the Cold
by A Pen and a Piece of Mind
Summary: A terrorist plot, SHIELD shut down, and a new recruit. Just your average week for a couple of master assassins.


_I do not claim any ownership over these characters save for the original ones I create. Thanks for reading!_

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**-Chapter One**-

**-An Entrepreneur-  
**

The flickering light was distracting. Clint could see it through the scope. Everytime he thought it had died out for good the damn thing came back on again. A chill passed through him. It was too cold here. The snow was falling, not yet heavy enough for low visibility but not light enough that he didn't notice. The light flashed again. Blink. Blink. Dead. A few seconds passed. Blink.

He sighed, then wiped the scope with the back of his sleeve. They had been in the storage facility for over an hour and in Moscow even longer. Fury had come up on some information of a possible threat. Information had gone missing from SHIELD facilities in Russia. Information that, if it got out, would be very bad for everyone involved. They had been sent to stop the exchange. By any means necessary. He and Natasha had found the exchange spot, had interrogated a lot of low level thugs, and been one step behind the criminal they were chasing. They had a name though, Operator.

He peered through the scope to see a figure approaching. The snow was getting heavier. He couldn't quite make out the person's face. A worn backpack was slung over their shoulder and a hood pulled over their head. The figure had a ratty jacket and a sweatshirt on to keep warm while sneakers trudged through the snow.

"Some homeless kid?"

_"Doubt it. There's a car coming. If you have the shot, take it." _Nat's voice rang through the speaker in his ear. Clint's finger rested on the trigger as a black Mercedes approached the hooded person.

Riley wasn't a fan of Moscow. It was too cold. Too quiet. Not as much fun as London. She had loved London. Sure, she had only been there six weeks but it was enough to love it. She hated Moscow, but it was where the money was, and she went where the money was. Well, the money and Adam.

Adam had shown her London. Adam had stolen London. Almost every dime, with her help. She was a small time thief before she met him. A shadow through the net taking what she needed and moving on. Adam had connections and they had been making big money from every mob guy they met. New identities, information from agencies, weapons blueprints and codes, they had it all. They were entrepreneurs.

She lowered her hood as the buyer's car approached. Her long dark hair was wet from the snow and matted from the hood. She should have put it in a ponytail. She looked around as the car came to a stop. She didn't like the dark back alley meet ups, but she wanted her money.

The doors opened and Adam stepped out of the backseat. The buyer and his partner got out of the driver's and passenger's sides respectively.

Adam, his hair tangled in that way she liked, smiled. She approached the buyer.

"Operator?" She nodded, "You may call me The Harbinger." The Harbinger held out his hand. Riley shook it. His breath reeked of tobacco and scotch. His hair was greasy and combed back smoothly. His voice, tinged with a German accent, rang with intimidation despite the friendly demeanor.

"Harbinger? Quite an intense code name," Riley smirked, "I have your order."

"Any problems?"

"None that I encountered." She reached into her backpack and removed the drive. She handed it over. The Harbinger stared at the small stick.

"That's it?"

"It's all on there. Blueprints, codes, location of the pieces."

"Do you have any copies?"

"Why would I keep a copy?"

"Curiosity. Blackmail."

"Look, you got your business, I got mine. That's how I work. If you want to use my services again, that's great. If not, this is our last business transaction. I don't want anything to do with whatever you've got going on. I'm not interested. All I care about is my payment." She smiled and looked at Adam, "Well, our payment."

The Harbinger returned the smile. He signaled to his business partner, a bearded heavy set man with bad teeth. The man reached into his pocket and pulled a gun.

"I like you, but with what I've got planned, I can't have loose ends," The Harbinger said. Adam's smile faded as he was pushed by the hit man to stand beside her.

"On your knees," The hit man said forcefully. Riley did as she was told, Adam beside her.

Clint watched the exchange.

"Nat, what do we do?" He asked into his comm device.

_"Shoot him and get that drive."_

"Copy." He held his breath, as he often did when using a sniper rifle. Then, he pulled the trigger.

The hit man went down. Blood pooled around his body as his gun dropped beside Adam. Adam picked it up while The Harbinger ran into his car, taking off down the snow covered path between the storage units.

"Run." Adam took off into the darkness as sirens wailed through the night.

"Shit." Riley sprinted towards the fence line.

Clint dropped the gun, "I'm going after the drive." He jumped to the next rooftop before making it to the outskirts of the storage facility. A bike was waiting for him. He started it and took off after the Mercedes.

"All SHIELD units be advised..." Natasha began the usual smattering of information. The back up that had been on standby was rarely needed for their operations, but this was one time they needed the cavalry. The Harbinger had only been a whisper on the lips of some of the criminals they had interrogated, but he was feared, and he was dangerous. Whatever he had needed, whatever information was on the drive, it was worse than bad news and they needed to get it back as soon as possible.

All trace of the hacker had been wiped clean in Russia. Any information that had been stolen had been replaced and there was no telling what exactly it was. It was too clean of an attack and the person that did it was too good at it to live. Fury had given her the order, take down the attacker, get back the information. One way or another she would get it done.

The girl hopped over the fence. That wouldn't stop Natasha from chasing the kid down.

The motorcycle raced through back roads and side streets as the Mercedes kept ahead of him. Clint wasn't sure when the shooting started, but he was glad he brought a second gun, or rather that Natasha had insisted on a side arm.

He avoided a collision with a truck as his eyes remained on the Mercedes. He aimed his gun at the tires and fired. When a bullet struck and the car spun out, he thought he had won.

The car crashed into a nearby wall. He stopped the bike in front of it and climbed off. He stepped in front of the car and the man known as The Harbinger crawled out. Clint stepped on the man's leg, stopping him. He held the gun to the man's head.

It was then that he noticed the man was laughing.

"Hand it over."

"I don't have it," The man laughed.

Clint rolled his eyes. They always liked to lie. He shoved the man over and searched his pockets. There was no drive. When had the exchange happened? He hadn't been that far behind the Mercedes. Had he?

"Where is it? Who did you give it to?" Clint held the gun closer.

"The Harbinger," The man spat.

A bullet crashed through the man's head. Blood sprayed onto the snow and up onto Clint's face. Clint ducked to the ground, but there were no more shots. He looked into the car for any information, but there was nothing.

"Nat," he began into his comm, "I think this just got a whole lot more complicated."

"And here I was thinking we might get to use some vacation time," She smirked as she dropped her hand from her ear. She had stopped running, so had the girl and they had found themselves in a bar.

Natasha watched as the girl sat at a small booth. She was brought a beer. This was a routine, they knew her, this was a safe place for her. And Natasha was about to ruin it. The girl never saw her coming, no one ever saw the Widow coming. Natasha sat across from her at the booth.

"Can I help you?" Riley's hand clenched under the table.

"You're scared."

"I'm not scared. I'm concerned."

"I would be too if someone had tried to shoot me." Natasha waived away the server. Riley stared at her.

"Who are you?"

"Considering you just handed over what I can only assume is more than top secret information, I should ask you that. I'm curious, how did you do it without anyone noticing?"

"I'm good at what I do. It's Riley." She took a sip of her beer.

"Oh, you're better than good. How old are you?" Natasha narrowed her eyes. She knew how to get the information. This girl had an ego. She was proud. She would give up all her secrets before the night was through.

"Nineteen."

"Nineteen," Natasha almost said it with disbelief, but she knew a nineteen year old could do the things Riley had done, could make the choices Riley had, Hell, she had made worse choices, she had killed before she was fourteen, "You're American?"

"What gave me away?" Riley rolled her eyes as she finished her first beer and ordered another, in fluent Russian.

"You know Russian?"

"I went to a charter school, learned Russian, Italian, French, Spanish and German. Requirements and the like. Half the kids already knew the languages because their parents worked for embassies and global conglomerates, but, I was better at it then them, not to gloat. And it's kind of helpful in my business. I take it you do too." Riley took a swig from her fresh beer.

"Also helpful in my business."

"Which is?"

"Ever hear of SHIELD?"

Riley laughed, "SHIELD? It's a fairytale." She took a swig of her drink.

"So you don't believe in it?" Natasha asked with a smirk.

"Oh no it's very real. You hear stories from these kids about how they can get off the streets or out of their shitty homes when SHIELD comes along and saves them. But, what they never realize is, that SHIELD doesn't take thieves or low life killers. No, you get on SHIELD'S radar, its usually not a good sign. Which means I'm pretty sure I'm leaving this bar in handcuffs or in a body bag." Riley downed the last of her second beer.

"Smart. I'm guessing that's how you got into a charter school. Scholarship, right?" Natasha asked but she already knew the answer. Riley's hand twitched and it was then that Natasha could see the thin traces of a scar on her too pale wrist.

Riley recovered with a smirk, "How do you know my parents didn't buy a library for the school that I went to. Maybe I'm rich, get all the best toys."

"You're too comfortable on the streets, which means you spent a lot of time on them, voluntarily. So you grew up in a neighborhood where no one would notice you or any abuse you may have been suffering. Probably, New York, lower west side? There's a level of contempt in your voice when you talk about the other kids at your school. You don't like money, or rather, you don't like those who live a certain lifestyle with their money." Natasha knew she had her. Even as Riley's face tried to hide it. She was too good at reading people.

"I ran away. I wasn't living on the streets, I was staying in shelters until they asked questions. Then I turned to stealing. You might think, charter school, she had a shot, but I couldn't live with a mother who spent half her time with a needle in her arm and the other half entertaining clients. And you know what I mean when I say clients. I'm aware of what I gave up when I left that school, but I think I'm doing alright for myself. I have a career, money. I think I've made the most out of my life." Riley turned away from Natasha, "So, if you're going to kill me, Agent whoever you are, I'd like you to do it knowing I don't regret my choices. I'm done with this conversation, just get it over with."

Natasha remembered the choice Clint made. She knew she was supposed to kill this kid. She knew SHIELD wanted this star hacker off the grid. She was a threat. She needed to be stopped before she made another trade to some other terrorist. Natasha knew all of this, knew the risk she was taking, still, she saw the damage, she saw the chance for change. She saw the red on her own ledger and the debts still meant to be paid. To Hell with Fury's order, it was her turn to make the call.

"It's Agent Romanoff, Natasha Romanoff, and I'm not going to kill you."

"You're not?" The disbelief in the girl's voice rang in every syllable, "So what I can walk out of here? Start over?"

"No. You're coming into SHIELD. We can train you. You can be useful. If you don't you're dead anyway, whether we're the ones who do it or not."

"What do mean, dead? Like I get from SHIELD, obviously I pissed you guys off, but like who else?" Riley asked, the worry in her eyes.

"The Harbinger. Whoever he is, wherever he is, he'll come after you."

"Why? I don't know enough about him to be a threat."

"You're alive. That's a threat. Understand this is a one time offer and SHIELD doesn't often make this offer to criminals like yourself." Natasha laughed in her head, she was trying to sound more threatening, to use the same words Clint had tried on her, but she knew then and she was sure Riley knew now that it was all bullshit. SHIELD made these offers a lot more often than they liked to admit. Half their staff was comprised of former hackers and killers.

"What about Adam?"

"He ran. We didn't find him. Look, I got this chance once, and I wasn't sure it was the right choice, but I was sure I didn't want to die, so unless you really don't care about your life, I would take it." Natasha thought of Clint, of the gun he had held to her head and his choice to lower the weapon. The first act of mercy she ever received in her life.

Riley thought of Adam. Of the time they broke into a bank vault in the dead of night in Rome. She thought of the police sirens and the gun shots. She remembered the way Adam had saved her and how he had done it. The body they ran from.

"I haven't done all the right things. I know that. But, I can't kill anyone. I can't. I've seen it one too many times in front of me and I'm not cut out for it."

"No one's asking you to kill. We're asking for your help and to give you a second chance. Start over."

"This Harbinger guy must be really bad news if you're giving me the whole second chance spiel." Riley bit her lip, "I'd be stupid to say no, though. Whatever he's going to do with that information, I don't want to be responsible for it. I'm in."

Natasha repeated the phrase she heard when Clint had convinced her to take her own second chance, "Welcome to SHIELD."

_"No you really haven't lived life yet  
Oh no, you really haven't lived life yet  
If you aint got no regrets_" - No Regrets - The Von Bondies

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...to be continued...


End file.
